Justia Mississippi Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Dawn Jodoin and Chris Different married in February 2005 while they were living in South Carolina. Jodoin’s two children, B.B. and J.B., also lived with them. In May 2010, Jodoin and Different moved to Rankin County, Mississippi, with Different’s sister and her husband. B.B. was fourteen years old and entering the ninth grade at the time the family moved to Rankin County. After about a month and a half, Jodoin and Different moved to Pearl, Mississippi. Jodoin decided to end her marriage with Different in 2011. B.B. and J.B. moved back to South Carolina in August 2011, and Jodoin moved back in September 2011. Jodoin and Different’s divorce was finalized in January 2012. The following month, Jodoin married Brian Jodoin. In February 2012, while living in Ohio, B.B. told her younger brother, J.B., that Different had sexually assaulted her. J.B. told Brian, and Brian told Jodoin. Jodoin took B.B. to a counselor, and the counselor contacted the Department of Human Services about the abuse. Different would ultimately be found guilty and convicted of one count of gratification of lust and one count of sexual battery. Different was sentenced to fifteen years for Count I, Gratification of Lust, and thirty years for Count II, Sexual Battery, to be served concurrently. He appealed, challenging the evidence presented against him. Finding no reversible error, the Supreme Court affirmed Different's conviction and sentence. View "Different v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

Safeway Insurance issued Tiffany Dukes an automobile insurance policy on her car. Dukes' boyfriend, Robert Hudson, was driving Dukes' car when he was involved in an accident that injured Jeffrey Piggs. Dukes sought coverage for the accident under her policy, but Safeway disputed coverage, claiming the policy was void due to Dukes' failure to list Hudson as a regular, frequent driver on her application for insurance. The trial court granted Safeway partial summary judgment because Dukes and Hudson refused to cooperate with Safeway’s investigation; however, the trial court also found that Safeway was responsible to provide $25,000 of liability coverage, even though Hudson was not listed as a regular, frequent driver on the policy. Following the trial court’s denial of a motion for reconsideration, Safeway appealed, via petition for interlocutory appeal, to the Court. Finding that the trial court erred in its holding, the Supreme Court reversed and rendered summary judgment in Safeway's favor. View "Safeway Insurance Co. v.Dukes" on Justia Law

James Hobson placed the highest bid at a foreclosure sale on real property in Warren County. The receipt Hobson obtained at the sale disclaimed that the sale was subject to withdrawal in the event of a timely reinstatement by the obligor on the deed of trust. The day before the sale, the defaulting obligor on the deed of trust reinstated the loan with Chase Home Finance, the obligee, and Priority Trustee Services of Mississippi, the trustee. Although Hobson’s check was returned, he sued Chase and Priority for breach of contract, arguing that he was entitled to receive the difference in the amount he had bid for the property and the appraised value of the property. The County Court initially granted summary judgment to Hobson and the Circuit Court affirmed; but the Supreme Court reversed and remanded for a determination of whether the obligor validly reinstated her loan prior to the foreclosure sale. On remand, the County Court granted summary judgment to Chase and Priority and the Circuit Court affirmed. Finding no error in the respective judgments of the County and Circuit Courts, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Hobson v. Chase Home Finance, LLC" on Justia Law

Defendant was charged with thirteen counts of video voyeurism. At a bench trial, the parties agreed to forego calling witnesses and to have the trial judge decide the case on a submission of stipulated facts. The stipulation omitted any reference to where ten of the thirteen counts took place. So, because the State failed to prove venue as to those ten counts, the Supreme Court reversed them. The Court affirmed defendant's remaining convictions. View "Nuckolls v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

In 2010, Dr. James Peoples treated Mattie Aldridge for recurrent deep-vein thrombosis. During her stay at the hospital, Dr. Peoples placed Aldridge on anticoagulation therapy. Almost two months later, after she had been transferred into the care of Trinity Mission Health & Rehabilitation of Clinton (“Trinity”), Aldridge presented to St. Dominic with a brain bleed. And two months after that, Aldridge died. The following year, Tamara Glenn, Aldridge’s daughter, filed suit alleging that Dr. Peoples negligently had caused Aldridge’s death by prescribing Coumadin. Dr. Peoples filed a motion for summary judgment, which the trial court granted. Finding no error, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Glenn v. Peoples" on Justia Law

William Greenwood owned Antique Wood Company of Mississippi (Greenwood), which was in the business of buying salvage rights to old buildings for the purpose of stripping and selling the buildings’ lumber, bricks, and other materials. After a lawsuit was filed against Greenwood, Greenwood’s insurers, located in Rankin County and Grenada County, denied indemnity coverage. Greenwood sued the insurers in the Circuit Court of Hinds County, alleging breach of contract, conspiracy, and bad faith. Following a grant of a motion for change of venue to the defendants, Greenwood filed the instant petition for interlocutory appeal, which the Supreme Court granted. Greenwood asserted that venue was proper in Warren County. The Supreme Court agreed and reversed the judgment of the Circuit Court. The case was remanded for transfer to the Circuit Court of Warren County. View "Greenwood v. MESA Underwriters Specialty Ins. Co." on Justia Law

Lewis and Lisa Shelby filed a medical-malpractice action on behalf of the wrongful death beneficiaries of their son, Terrance Shelby. Shortly before trial, the trial judge dismissed the Shelbys for discovery violations, but he allowed Terrance’s brother, Demario Ferguson, to be substituted as the new wrongful-death plaintiff. After being substituted in the action, Ferguson admitted during his deposition that he previously had signed a false affidavit while the trial court was considering appropriate sanctions for the Shelbys’ conduct. The trial judge then dismissed the entire action. Ferguson appealed the dismissal, but finding no reversible error, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Ferguson v. University of Mississippi Medical Center" on Justia Law

After failing to stop at a checkpoint, John Cole attempted to evade law-enforcement officers before subsequently crashing into a trailer. Cole ran on foot into the nearby woods and shortly was detained. A search of the area produced $6,000 in cash, which the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics (MBN) claimed was found in close proximity to controlled substances. The MBN sought forfeiture of the property, and Anthony Brown filed a petition to contest. Brown contended that he was an innocent owner of the cash and that forfeiture was therefore improper. After review of Brown's petition, the Supreme Court affirmed the Court of Appeals as to forfeiture and found that Brown’s claim failed by default for lack of proof of an ownership interest in the property. View "Six Thousand Dollars ($6,000) v. Mississippi Ex Rel. Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics" on Justia Law

A former employee claimed he was discharged for reporting his employer’s illegal activity and sought to bring a wrongful-discharge claim under a public-policy exception to his at-will employment status. Because the former employee participated in the allegedly illegal activity, the Supreme Court held that he could not bring his suit, so it affirmed summary judgment on his wrongful-discharge claim. View "Galle v. Isle of Capri Casinos, Inc." on Justia Law

On February 25, 2014, James Rowsey was convicted of aggravated assault for throwing scalding water on a fellow inmate at the South Mississippi Correctional Institution. Rowsey was appointed two defense counsel. Rowsey made complaints against both attorneys to the Mississippi Bar; the trial court record indicated that Rowsey was ihighly uncooperative, and that a mental evaluation was ordered to determine his competency to stand trial. After a number of granted continuances, trial commenced on February 24, 2014, forty-nine months after the incident, thirty-six months after indictment and thirty-three months after arraignment. The jury returned its guilty verdict, and Rowsey was sentenced to serve ten years of incarceration to run consecutively to the life sentence he already was serving for murder. Rowsey appealed, arguing he received ineffective assistance of trial counsel, and that errors at trial deprived him of his constitutional rights to a fair and speedy trial. Finding no error, the Supreme Court affirmed Rowsey's conviction and sentence. View "Rowsey v. Mississippi" on Justia Law